Buenos Aires

The lead investigator into the suspicious death of Argentine federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman announced this week that the deceased prosecutor had drafted warrants for the arrest of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman before his death. Five days after accusing the president, foreign minister, and other politicians of covering up Iran’s involvement in the 1994 terrorist attack in Buenos Aires, Nisman was found dead of a gunshot wound in his apartment. President Kirchner claims Nisman was murdered by rogue operatives within Argentina’s intelligence agency, the Secretaria de Intelligencia (SI).

On July 18, 1994, a suicide bomber drove a van loaded with explosives into the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires and killed 85 people. Five suspects, including four police officers, were originally charged with the bombing but were acquitted in 2004 due to lack of evidence. A year later, the federal judge in charge of the case, Judge Juan José Galeano, was impeached for serious irregularities and his mishandling of the investigation. On October 25, 2006, Nisman formally accused the Iranian government of orchestrating the bombing and using Hezbollah to carry out the attack.

In 2008, Nisman requested the detention of former President Carlos Menem and Judge Galeano for their involvement in covering up evidence related to the bombing. On January 14, Nisman filed a 289-page criminal complaint against President Kirchner, Foreign Minister Timerman, and several prominent politicians accusing them of covering up Iran’s involvement in the 1994 bombing. Five days later, Nisman was found dead of a gunshot wound. On the day his body was found, Nisman had been scheduled to appear before congress to brief legislators on his evidence against the president.